Thursday, March 11, 2010

how i got ovah: for muh' dear - Carolyn M. Rodgers

told my sweet mama to leave me alone about my wild free knotty and nappy hair cause i was gon lay back and let it grow so high it could reroute its roots and highjack the sky!

she sd. why don't you let it grow right on down to the ground honey chile, grow yo'self a coat of hair fuh winter matter fact you so BLACK now, huh! why don't you jest throw a fit of BLACK lay backin & rootin.

my mama gives some boss advice... i think we all ought to do that

Published in 1976, I remember seeing how i got ovah sitting on my mother's bookshelf for most of my childhood. I never bothered to read it until I went to college. I was absolutely blown away by Carolyn M. Rodgers' words and she became my favorite poet. I loaned the book to a friend and never saw it again. It's out of print now, but I managed to find a copy on Amazon.com. I'm so glad to have an old friend back and I wanted to share some of her work with you. If it's okay with you, from time to time I'll post some of her work.